


Forever and Always

by orphan_account



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 15:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9078151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Princess Emma sneaks out every night to look for adventure. Captain Hook is on a quest of his own. What happens when they meet?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ahsagitarius](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahsagitarius/gifts).



> Hi @ahsagitarius, I am your CSSS! It was fun to meet you this past month and I am so so sorry for how late I’m posting your story! Anyway, hope you like it and can’t wait to talk to you more in the near future! Happy Holidays!
> 
> Shoutout to @spartanguard for being the beta to this one-shot. It was nice to meet you too! :)

She really shouldn't be doing this.

She ignores the berating voice of her brain as she tugs rather forcefully at the laces of her boots. Tying them up into tight bows, she rises from the ground and tiptoes lightly to the wardrobe, swinging the door open without a single squeak.

She should stop now.

Green eyes flitting at the various pieces of apparel hanging in the closet, she selects a dark coffee-brown cloak with a hood that she throws over herself, securing the opening together with a simple black brooch.

She should seriously forget everything and go back to sleep.

Stealthily and swiftly, she creeps to the doors of the balcony and pulls one open a crack, all the while praying that nobody hears her. Thankfully, it is the dead of night and the castle seems to be all but awake. She slips through the crack and closes the glass door behind her, making sure not a single click is heard. Turning around, she takes a deep breath as her eyes dart back and forth at the flower vases on the patio and at the small tiny diamonds twinkling in the midnight canopy above her.

She pulls the hood over her head, concealing her golden locks, before she treads to the marble balusters and looks down at the ground, where the grass seems to be beckoning her down.

She proceeds to swing a leg over the platform and descend down carefully, almost gasping in surprise when she hears the familiar chirp of a nightingale.

"Shh, don't wake Mama," she commands with a finger pressed to her lips, and the bird immediately silences as it cocks its head curiously at her. Nodding contentedly, her booted feet finally touch the ground and she congratulates herself on another successful escape. She then pulls the cloak closer around her and walks off in the direction of the village.

***********************

She's done this often, leaving the castle in the wee hours of night for another countless adventure in the village tavern. She has grown to cherish these nightly visits and the people that she meets. She has made an unlikely friend in a servant-girl Belle who also lives in a castle and who loves to read.

Nobody knows who she is, though. She prefers to stay anonymous.

Tonight, Belle isn't there to greet her with a new update on Her Handsome Hero. Because the people seem to be newcomers, she decides to order a small seidel of beer and huddle in a corner, satisfied with the idea of sitting and drinking in peace.

But the idea of peace crumbles to ashes when sudden cheers and hoots resonate around the tavern.

"Hook, Hook, Hook!"

"Captain Hook, Captain Hook!"

She's heard tales of Captain Hook, king of the seas, the most dangerous pirate captain to run into. Curious to see who Hook is, she cautiously turns her head to glance at the doorway. Men stumble into the tavern, hooting and clapping their hands vigorously. And the noises seem to grow louder when another man appears at the door with his hand and hook hanging off his belt casually.

Captain Hook.

He is gorgeous, she thinks, as her eyes dart from his raven-black hair to his breathtakingly ocean-blue eyes to the wonderful display of dark chest hair protruding from his red vest. And oh, he looks so good in red. He is tall and he walks with a swagger, having the air of a true pirate captain.

He grins smugly at his crew as they continue cheering before he makes his way to a large table where two bar wenches appear, seating themselves on either side of him. The grin stays chiseled on his handsome face as he slings an arm around each wench, while the crew members grab a seat at the table and sit, shouting orders for rum and beer.

She turns back around, imbibing from her seidel as she listens to the rowdy roars and shouts of the pirates. Part of her craves to join the group just to meet the captain. She's never met a pirate, let alone Captain Hook.

When she sneaks a glance at Hook's table, he sees that Hook and is men are playing dice. Part of her wants to stay in her corner and drink.

Part of her wants to join the group.

She sets the seidel down on the table resolutely and unties the lace on her bodice until enough of her bosom is revealed before she tucks loose strands of blonde hair behind her ears. With a small flirty smirk, she saunters over to the table where Hook and company are seated. Placing her hands on the table, she leans her face forward, keeping her steady gaze on the captain's face. She smirks even more when she notices Hook swipe his tongue over his bottom lip.

"What are you boys playing?"

***********************

He happens to be very good company as they clink their glasses of rum and drink.

"I have a confession to make," she begins as she sets her glass down on the table.

"Most women do," he retorts, parroting her action.

I want to know how you got the hook," she says, caressing the metal piece in her hand.

He shakes his head. "That is a tale for another time. I want to know your name," he whispers as he scoots closer to her, placing his hand on her knee.

She glances down at his hand before looking up at him. "But what fun would that be?" she asks innocently. "There's nothing wrong with a mystery."

"I do adore a mystery," the captain murmurs amorously as he inches yet closer to her, his hand shifting up her leg. She shivers from anticipation and decides to take the conversation to a new level.

"We can be two ships passing in the night." She flutters her eyelashes at him and smirks in triumph when she notices his Adam's apple bob.

"Passing closely, I hope?" he says with a suggestive wink and she shoots a sultry smile at him.

"Maybe?"

"Speaking of ships," he announces after he downs another shot of rum. "How about we leave this place and I show you mine?" He rises from the table and extends his hand out to her.

She glances at his hand and smiles widely before grasping his fingers and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

This will be an interesting night.

***********************

She awakens before dawn with a muscular arm slung over her waist, his hand plastered on her stomach. She lies in that position for a few moments, huddling closer to the man behind her as he continues slumbering. She ponders over the previous night's events and her lips begin to tilt upwards.

Captain Hook is very knowledgeable about some things.

The aforementioned captain suddenly yawns and shifts behind her, all the while keeping a strong grip on her waist. She manages to shimmy and flip over on the opposite side with as little movement as possible so she can lie next to him and stare at his handsome self.

"I know you're staring, love," he says without opening his eyes and she giggles.

"Morning, handsome," she whispers, pecking his cheek lightly with her lips.

"Good morning, beautiful," he mumbles before he turns his head to capture her lips with his. He moans in appreciation and she pulls back to bite her bottom lip as she smiles again.

"I have to go back," she announces reluctantly as she pulls the covers back. Immediately, the cold air rushes and hits her naked form and she shivers momentarily.

"Must you, love?" Hook pouts as he nuzzles his head between her breasts. She stands and cards her fingers gently through the dark strands of his hair.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly as she presses a quick kiss to his forehead before she begins to tug on the dress and boots that Hook had (not so gently) pulled off of her.

He leans on his elbows and reclines on the bed as he watches her dress through hooded eyes. When she throws on her cloak and secures the foldings together, she trails to the bed and leans forward to kiss the pout off his lips.

"See you in a month?" she questions and he smiles brightly at her.

"Aye, love."

She parrots his facial expression before pulling the hood over her head. After giving him one last kiss, she leaves the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Hook continues lying on the bed as he listens to the sound of her footsteps fading before he rises and pulls on the pair of breeches he had unceremoniously thrown on the floor the night before. He pulls on a black shirt and black vest and walks slowly to the desk, opening a drawer. In the drawer are articles of many kinds, for writing and drawing and navigating through the open seas. There is a large scroll nestled between a journal and a compass, which he takes out and unravels. He gazes thoughtfully and painstakingly at the picture before reading the words written in script underneath it.

Princess Emma of Misthaven.

"Did you manage to steal her heart yet, pirate?" an annoyingly familiar voice rings out, accompanied with a cloud of purple smoke.

"What is it you want, your Majesty?" Hook demands quietly as he clenches his jaw, never taking his eyes off the portrait of the beautiful and glorious woman who departed from his quarters nigh ten minutes ago.

"Why, just to see how your quest goes!" the Evil Queen answers excitedly, clapping her hands.

"Don't tell me you're using your bloody mirror to spy on us," he retorts angrily, lifting his head to meet her square gaze.

Regina shudders. "Of course not," she answers as she stalks around the cabin, flaunting her wide royal-blue gown out. "I don't want to see you too slobbering at each other right before I fall asleep."

"Since when do you sleep?" Hook contradicts.

Regina stops walking and sticks out a finger. "You're right," she responds in her innocent tone. "Now, what of you and Emma?"

"We will meet in a month's time," he reports a bit unwillingly as his eyes shift back to the blonde green-eyed angel depicted on the parchment.

"And she still doesn't know you know your true identity?" the Queen pries.

"No."

"Good!" Regina lets out an evil chuckle. "It won't be so difficult to win her heart by then. And then her heart is mine and Snow's happiness will finally be destroyed."

Hook does not respond to her plans; he continues gazing at the picture.

Regina's head snaps in the direction of the pirate. "You don't seem so enthusiastic about this," she comments, her eyes narrowing.

Hook sighs. "Is it worth going about this route?"

The Evil Queen storms to the desk and snatches the poster from Hook's hand. "Of course it is worth going about this route!" she shouts. "I have vowed to destroy every last bit of Snow White's happiness if it is the last thing I do."

"Surely there is some other way to destroy Snow's happiness without hurting Emma," he begins, but he is cut off with another regal glare.

"Emma is Snow's happiness, therefore she must be destroyed," Regina announces vehemently as she starts to pace around the cabin again. She suddenly stops and turns around to eye the captain. "You're not in love with Emma, are you?"

Hook scoffs. "Of course not, I just met the lass."

"Then capture her heart. And hand it to me." Regina makes a motion with her hand but is stopped by Hook.

"And what about me?" he demands, his piercing blue eyes glaring at her.

Regina rolls her eyes. "Yes, pirate, I know. You'll get your revenge on the Dark One, don't worry." She repeats the motion with her hand and purple smoke appears, engulfing her. When the smoke disappears, Regina is nowhere to be found.

"Bloody hell," Hook mutters as he continues to gaze at Emma's lovely face on the parchment that has fluttered to the floor. "I'm sorry, love."

***********************

Monthly visits turn to weekly ones before Captain Hook's ship is docked at the Misthaven harbor every night. Every night, Princess Emma secretly leaves the castle in the same fashion and manages to sneak back in before dawn breaks.

And every morning, ten minutes after her departure, the Evil Queen appears to hear Hook's reportings.

"You are wasting your time," she reprimands him one day with angry brown eyes when Hook admits he wasn't able to steal her heart yet. "Can't you see that she's in love with you? Now's the time to hurt her."

Hook isn't sure he wants to hurt her. In fact, he wants to drop the deal with Regina.

But Regina won't hear of it.

As time passes by, Emma notices that Hook becomes quieter and a little more distant from her. Only when he touches her does he make love to her, oh so gently as if she were a fragile flower on the verge of snapping off the stem, and she doesn't understand.

She watches him lovingly peel off her boots and softly places her hand on his cheek and asks, "Hey, what's wrong?"

He almost jumps at her touch and looks startled before his features alter to a tender smile. "Nothing," he whispers, pressing his lips gently to her bare ankle before looking up at her with adoration in his eyes.

She blushes and smiles, extending a hand out to him to pull him up. He takes it reverently and pecks her knuckles lightly twice, the second time more sentimental than the first.

Emma furrows her eyebrows. "Is something wrong, Hook?"

His eyes look up at her face. "I need to talk to you," he says. "But after I make love to you."

He instantly rises to kiss her, swallowing her gasp of surprise and she gets lost in him as he thrusts into her gently, whispering vows of affection and infatuation into her ear until her eyes begin to water with unshed tears.

When he finally collapses on the bed next to her, she sneaks a glance at him and notices that his eyes are closed, his hand clasping the sheets and twisting them in his grasp.

She knows something is wrong, but she doesn't know why he won't tell her.

"Killian," she implores and his eyes instantly open when she utters his real name. "You know you can tell me anything."

He winces before speaking. "Emma love, look at me."

"I am," she contradicts, sticking her tongue out playfully at him.

Hook winces again. "Love, this is serious. I've been hiding this from you since the moment we met."

Emma lifts her arms to lean on her elbows as she regards her pirate lover with wary eyes, but she takes his hand and interlaces her fingers with his. "Tell me."

"I knew who you were when you walked up to my table that very first night," he admits, so quietly that she almost doesn't hear him.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she questions when she finally finds her voice again. She senses that something is wrong, completely wrong, but she has to hear it out from him first.

"Because I was sent on a quest to find you and capture your heart in exchange for revenge on the Dark One."

Emma grows livid. "So you used me? For revenge on the Dark One?" she barks, growing louder by the minute. "And for who?"

"Emma, please, I can explain," Hook begins to explain, but Emma cuts him off with an angry motion of her hand.

"Why didn't you ever say anything to me? And for whom was all this for?"

"Because I wanted to protect you from her," he pleads, attempting to hold onto her hand, but she immediately releases his hand and jumps up from the bed, picking up her creamy-white dress from the floor.

"Who's her?" she all but screeches.

"The Evil Queen," Hook whispers, dropping his head between his hands.

Her eyes widen as she slips the dress over her body and tugs angrily at her boots, cursing when she ties the knot too loosely.

"Emma," he implores, watching the cloak envelop the princess's figure. "Emma."

Emma looks at him once more. "Goodbye, Captain Hook," she says pointedly. "How dare you."

"Emma, please."

Her eyes begin welling up with tears. "Why did you hide this from me?" she asks in a broken whisper.

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt."

"And why do you care so much?"

"Because I love you," he declares so softly she doubts she heard him correctly. Her eyes widen, despite the tears, and she turns and flees, never looking back once as she dashes towards the castle as fast as her feet can carry her.

The tears begin to fall then and as much as she wants them to stop, she can't make them stop. The silent drops fall and one lands on her hand, as clear as a crystal. Thinking of crystals has her thinking of gems, and thinking of gems has her thinking of pirates, and thinking of pirates has her thinking of Captain Hook. And try as she might, she just can't stop the tears. ANd she hates how much it hurts that he's betrayed her because she loves him so much and -

Oh.

Oh.

That explains everything.

She loves him, too.

***********************

She tells her mother and father everything. Of her sneaking out to meet with her pirate lover, of the Evil Queen's plan to ruin their happiness.

Charming can't seem to get it into his head that his own precious daughter had snuck out of the castle every night to see the nefarious Captain Hook.

Snow White, being the optimist that she is, believes her daughter has found true love in the amorous Captain Hook.

Emma just misses him, but she can't afford to sneak out anymore, especially if the Evil Queen is bound to appear one night out of the blue to take her heart and crush it.

Instead, she warns her parents of the impending battle against Regina, constantly repeating that it is crucial to bring the Evil Queen down once and for all.

The royal family is assembled in the throne room with the council group, discussing different ways to fight the queen.

"No, surprise attacks won't work!" Snow cries out when Grumpy suggests one. "She expects those surprise attacks to happen!"

The throne room suddenly erupts with shouts and arguments, which soon die out when the doors are suddenly opened and the arrival of Captain Killian Jones, famously known by his moniker, Captain Hook, is announced.

The crowd gasps as the pirate strides to the thrones where the trio are seated. Charming immediately rises and draws his sword.

"You!" he storms. "How dare you approach my daughter!" and he would have run down the steps to slice Hook's head off if Snow had not stopped him.

"I come to assist you in defeating the Evil Queen," he announces after bowing to the royals, all the while avoiding his lover's gaze.

"Killian," she says, and he timidly lifts his head to regard her with oh, such beautiful blue eyes.

"Aye, your Majesty?"

She doesn't answer him, instead runs down the steps and throws her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. He seems to be taken aback before wrapping his arms around her slender waist, burying his face into her luscious blonde curls.

Neither thought they'd see each other again.

Emma hears the people assembled gasp in surprise, but she ignores them as she revels in the feel of Killian's arms around her."Why are you really here?" she whispers.

"To see how this gorgeous light blue dress becomes you, love," he teases as he releases her, eyeing the neckline of her dress.

She blushes and rolls her eyes playfully. "We have company," she whispers.

He winks at her and it's all she can do not to shove him against the wall and have her way with him. It has been a week, after all.

"I'm here to help your family, love. I was the one so headstrong with avenging Milah that I never realized I have found true happiness. With you."

Emma's eyes widen. "Wait, does that mean -"

"Yes, I broke the deal with the Evil Queen. I can't afford to lose you."

" That's not the only reason you came," she pries.

He smiles gently as he caresses her cheek. "No, I came to tell you something. I love you, Emma."

"Good," she announces resolutely. "Because I love you, too."

Hook wraps his arms around her waist again and twirls her in the air before he kisses her passionately. Cheers and applause erupt from the assembled audience, but the lovebirds continue kissing until they run out of breath.

And in that moment, Emma knows that wherever Killian is, she'll always feel safe.

Because they will fight together.

They will be together.

Forever and always.


End file.
